Virtual MPA Information
As far as we know, all components and districts have transitioned back to In-Person Music Performance Assessments (MPAs) for the 2021-2022 school year, so the following information may no longer be valid.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in partnership with the component organizations, FSMA is making modifications to MPA Online, its online MPA entry management system for directors and district chairs, to accommodate remote performance and adjudication for "Virtual" Music Performance Assessment (MPA) events. This page is to assist music teachers, district chairs, and adjudicators with this process.
Adjudicator Information:
Scores/Sheet Music:
- For Solo & Ensemble, directors or students may upload PDF files or image files (JPG, PNG, etc) of each page of the music. All pages may be combined into one PDF file, or multiple files may be uploaded using the "Append to Existing" option.
- For Concert and Jazz MPA, directors must upload a separate pdf file of the complete conductor's score for each piece.
- Music performed must be from a publisher who has agreed to have their music recorded for the purposes of student adjudication. If the publisher on your sheet music is not listed on that link, do a web search to see if the publisher might have changed since your copy was printed and check for the new publisher. Directors may also reach out directly to the publishers to obtain permission, citing that link as the criteria for its use. As long as an effort has been made to obtain permission, the student will not be penalized if a publisher does not respond.
Performance Videos:
- You must show the original sheet music (Concert, Jazz, and Solo & Ensemble) or proof that it was legally purchased at the beginning of your video. (If you already recorded some videos without this, uploading a scan or photo of the original to MPA Online as the judge's score or showing it to the judge in your live web meeting will suffice)
- In general, video files created with iPhone and Android phones and tablets, the QuickTime app on a Mac, or the Camera app on Windows or Chromebooks, will be an acceptable format and file size.
- If recording with a phone or tablet, hold it sideways. The video should be recorded in landscape (sideways/horizontal) mode to ensure compatibility with the adjudicator's interface.
- .MOV or .mp4 files are recommended, but AVI, wmv, mpeg, 3GPP, and WebM will also work.
- If your camera, phone, or software offers codec options, choose H.264 and AAC
- Resolution: 1080p or 720p
- Quality "High" or between 10 and 20 mbps
- Compression "Better Quality" (Not "Best")
- If an entry is performing more than one piece of music:
- Solo & Ensemble: both pieces should be included in a single video file
- Concert and Jazz: Each piece should be a separate video file.
- For solo & ensemble, the performance video may be uploaded by either the director or the student.
Solo & Ensemble Virtual MPA
This section does not apply to Auxiliaries. See the section below for information about Auxiliary MPA.
District Chairs:
- Make sure the MPA is marked "Virtual" on it's "Details" page in MPA Online
- Hiring judges and scheduling the MPA is the same as with in-person events. Even if you intended it to be "asynchronous" you still need to schedule every entry with a judge and give the students the option to join the live meeting with the judge if they want to.
- The Scheduled tab of the Schedule page contains buttons to join the meetings if you need to let a student know a judge is having problems or anything like that. Try not to join the meetings unless you are sure they are not performing for the judge.
- You can make schedule changes on-the-fly during the MPA in an emergency. The new performance times will update on the judge schedule pages and student waiting room page as you change them on the Schedule page.
- A link to the "Virtual FBA/FOA/FVA Office" is on the district chair main page. Keep that open throughout the MPA in case directors or judges need to contact you. You can also use it for your adjudicator's meeting before the MPA begins.
- Adjudicators can now download sheets from their virtual schedule page, so there is no longer the need for you to mail or email the sheets to the judges in advance.
- Watch the Virtual S&E Training Video on your District Chair Training Videos page!!!!!
Directors:
- Enter student entries into MPA Online like normal, including sending signed entry forms and payment to your district chair.
- Upon entry, directors will see a "Virtual MPA" button on their entry screen where they can manage all aspects of the Virtual S&E MPA.
- On the "Virtual MPA" page, upload the sheet music for each entry
- Once the MPA has been scheduled by the district chair, download the Instructions for each student from the Virtual MPA page and send them to the students.
- Arrange plans with the student to pre-record their performance as a video. They can upload the video file themselves using the instructions on the instruction sheet you downloaded and sent them, or you can upload their videos on your Virtual MPA Page.
- At least 1 day before the student's scheduled time make sure their video has been uploaded. An icon appears next to the "upload" link when they have been uploaded. Click that icon to watch their video.
- Click the "Join" button to join the same waiting room the student is in to help the student test their camera and microphone before their scheduled time, and sit in on the meeting with the adjudicator at their scheduled time.
- Watch this Video to get more familiar with the process, but note that it was produced before we started recommending that the performances should be pre-recorded and uploaded in advance.
Scheduled Web Meetings with the Adjudicator:
- All S&E Entries will be scheduled with an adjudicator by your district chair like normal.
- Students will follow the instructions for logging into the web meeting on the instruction sheet sent to them by their director.
- At the scheduled web meeting with the adjudicator, the judge will play the pre-recorded video and then discuss their performance with the student
- The adjudicator may ask the student to perform certain sections of their music live after watching the pre-recorded video and giving feedback to the student.
- If a student did not submit a pre-recorded performance video, they may perform live for the adjudicator instead.
- Joining the live web meeting with the adjudicator is not optional unless specified by your component association's leadership. The one-on-one feedback with the adjudicator is an important part of the Solo & Ensemble MPA experience to allow the judge to model and provide other feedback not possible to write on a sheet. However, if a student is not able to join the live meeting with the adjudicator due to technical difficulties, the adjudicator will still adjudicate the student's performance on the pre-recorded video their director uploaded.
Adjudicators
- See the Detailed Instructions Here
- Watch this Video for more information, but note that it was produced before we started recommending that performances be pre-recorded and uploaded in advance.
- Adjudication Sheets:
- Ratings will be entered into MPA Online by the adjudicator after each student's live web meeting.
Technical Support
Concert, Jazz Ensemble, and Auxiliary Virtual MPA
Directors:
- The ability to upload performance videos and PDF conductor scores for the judges has been added to MPA Online. Add an entry like normal, and you will see those links on your entry list page next to the links to print your entry forms.
- Recording Performance Videos:
- Start by introducing your ensemble along with the title and composer
- Show your original purchased score to the camera for the piece you will be performing at the beginning of each video, before you begin the performance.
- Each piece must be a separate video file
- See the Performance Videos section at the top of this page.
- Directors must upload performance videos, these cannot be uploaded by students as they can for S&E
- Concert Bands and Jazz Bands Only: FBA is encouraging everyone to submit videos of their bands' performances, but allowing audio-only recordings. If you choose to submit an audio-only recording of your band, it must be converted into a video file first using video editing software or a website such as OnlineConverter.com/audio-to-video. Simply renaming the file extension will not work, it must be converted.
- Concert and Jazz performance videos must be split into separate files for each piece.
- These will all be judged asynchronously, so there is no live meeting with an adjudicator. The judges will submit their audio commentary for you to listen to through MPA Online like in normal years.
- FVA Only: Choral District Concert MPAs will be a state-wide comments-only virtual assessment. Register in MPA-Online by clicking on the "State-Wide Choral MPA" for your grade level. The registration deadline is March 12. High School choruses must submit their performance video by April 16 and Middle schools by April 23.
District Chairs:
- Since all judging will be asynchronous, there is no need to schedule the entries since there will be no live meetings.
- Judges will be able to download the sheets themselves, fill them out by printing them or using the "Fill & Sign" feature in Adobe Reader, and email them back to you
- Judges will upload their audio commentary themselves.
- Judges will enter their rating themselves.
- Student Conductor Judges: If you won't be hiring a sight-reading judge, there is a link next to each concert judge you've hired on the "Details" page of your MPA to specify which concert judge will also be judging student conductors. Those links will not appear if you already have a student conductor judge, so if you need to cancel your sight-reading judge, do that first, and then the links will appear to select which one will be judging student conductors also.
Adjudicators:
Help
Please send any technical questions or problems to josh@flmusiced.org, and other questions should be directed to your district chair.
